Building control systems encompass a wide variety of systems that aid in the monitoring and control of various aspects of building operation. Building control systems include security systems, fire safety systems, lighting systems, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems. In large commercial and industrial facilities, such systems have an extensive number of elements and are highly automated.
The elements of a building control system are widely dispersed throughout a facility. For example, an HVAC system includes temperature sensors and ventilation damper controls as well as other elements that are located in virtually every area of a facility. Similarly, a security system may have intrusion detection, motion sensors and alarm actuators dispersed throughout an entire building or campus. Likewise, fire safety systems include smoke alarms and pull stations dispersed throughout the facility. To achieve efficient and effective building control system operation, there is a need to monitor the operation of, and often communicate with, the various dispersed elements of a building control system.
To this end, building control systems typically have one or more centralized control stations in which data from the system may be monitored, and in which various aspects of system operation may be controlled and/or monitored. The control station typically includes a computer having processing equipment, data storage equipment, and a user interface. To allow for monitoring and control of the dispersed control system elements, building control systems often employ multi-level communication networks to communicate operational and/or alarm information between operating elements, such as sensors and actuators, and the centralized control station.
One example of a building control system control station is the Apogee Insight® Workstation, available from Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. of Buffalo Grove, Ill., which may be used with the model Apogee® building control system, also available from Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. In this system, several control stations, connected via an Ethernet or another type of network, may be distributed throughout one or more building locations, each having the ability to monitor and control system operation. As a consequence, different people in different locations of the facility may monitor and control building operations.
The typical building control system (including those utilizing the Apogee Insight® Workstation) has a plurality of field panels that are in communication with a workstation. In addition, the building control system also includes one or more field devices connected to the field panels. Each field device is typically operative to measure and/or monitor various building control system parameters.
While the workstation is generally used to make modifications and/or changes to one or more of the various components of the building control system, a field panel may also be operative to allow certain modifications and/or changes to one or more parameters of the system. This typically includes parameters such as temperature and otherwise, set port changes, modify a control program or the like.
In industries that manufacture chemical, semiconductor and pharmaceutical products, for instance, there is a need for controlling the environment in the processing rooms and/or areas. Various manufacturing processes in these industries require strict control of environmental factors. As a consequence, it is often desirable to track changes within the building control system. Additionally, various federal regulations that pertain to these types of manufacturing require monitoring and/or reporting or recording of various parameters associated with the building control system for manufacturing validation. This is accomplished via a building control system log.
Currently, changes made by a user to the building control system at a system workstation level (i.e. a workstation) are logged by the workstation into a workstation event log. Changes made at the field panel level (i.e. a field unit) are not automatically logged or captured. Typically, if changes made at the field panel that effect the environment in a particular area are to be logged, this must be done using a handwritten log book. The handwritten log entries may then be entered manually into the workstation via user interface equipment at the work station. The inclusion of so many manual reporting translation steps can lead to errors, and is in any event inefficient.
It would thus be advantageous to have a field panel that allows automatic capture of changes and/or modifications made on a field panel of a building control system. It would be further advantageous to have a building control system that can accomplish event logging at the field unit level.
There is a need, therefore, for a building control system that allows logging of user-generated field panel changes and/or modifications.